A New Hope

from wikipedia.com

I am a big fan of the Star Wars movies and have had a love affair with the intergalactic stories since I was a small child. Recently, I was watching for the _(fill in huge number)_millionth time, EpisodeIV: A New Hope. For the three people on the planet that have not seen this movie, it is essentially a story of the Jedi (good guys) gaining power and opposing the Empire (bad guys) with a plethora of light sabers and blasters. In the title, A New Hope, it is apparent that the people of the galaxy will finally have hope against the oppressive Empire.

Lately, I have been watching, reading and following numerous conversations and discussions about the state of public education in our country. There is sadly, a great deal of negativity and anger in these discussions and interactions. I have to admit I have taken part in some of these and vented my frustration and disappointment at some of the circumstances public education has found itself in. Many of these discussions end with finger pointing at the bad students, bad teachers or bad parents. Let’s be honest, there is no shortage of things to complain about or things to point at.

However, with all that, I see hope in many places and I fear too many of us are looking past them.

Yes, kids are hurting other kids and causing physical and emotional harm. There appears to be little empathy and compassion left in our schools. Yet, I sit in a classroom right now with a handful of 6^thgrade boys who all shaved their heads. Why? They are showing support for a classmate who was recently diagnosed with cancer. Is that not empathy and compassion?  I also recently came across this short video that fills me with hope for the future of our country and in humanity. Clearly there are good students out there that want to make a positive difference in their communities.

 

There are also a lot of negative feelings towards parents of our nation’s kids and how they are parenting. I myself have sat and wondered how some parents could do some of the things they have done to their children or to kids in general. However, my good friend Jeremy Macdonald sent me the video below that literally brought me to tears and filled me with hope. There are incredibly selfless parents and teachers out there that inspire me and this man is but one of them.

The amount of negativity in the world is almost overwhelming at times. The Empire will not win and the Jedi will return! Or at least, the good people in our world will continue to do good, inspire others and bring us hope. What are you doing or seeing that fills you with hope for our future in education and in humanity. Please share!

The Streak

This past year I committed on January 1st, 2012 to run at least a mile a day for 365 days. I honestly didn't think it would last that long and I was right. On January 9th, I rolled my ankle pretty badly playing in one of my basketball league games. Sorry for the grossness of the picture...felt it had to be included.

Injured Ankle

Normal Ankle 

I took two days off for the ankle to recover a bit and then started the streak back up on January 12th and have not stopped running since. Here is a graphic of some of the stats related to my current streak.

While this is not necessarily an education related post, it is a relevant moment in my life as this run streak means a great deal to me. Over the course of this run streak I have had some amazing experience. Here are a just few...

• I ran on the morning before I met the President of the United States of America in Washington DC.

• I ran along the Pacific Ocean in San Diego as I saw that ocean for the first time in my life. 

• I ran in Central Park on my first ever visit to the world renown city park. 

• I ran my first half marathon with my 55 year old father.

I encourage you to set yourself a lofty goal and if it is a physical one, all the better. Stick with it and I promise you it will make you a better and healthier person. Or try a different kind of streak. Give a hug every single day. Call a parent of a student once a day. Start a streak of kindness or maybe reading to your kids. Just go for it...go streaking. :)